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International Symposium on Earthquake Risk Reduction in Himalayan Region held in Kathmandu
The two-day ‘International Symposium on Earthquake Risk Reduction in Himalayan Region’ held in Kathmandu during 27-28 January 2025.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development, Prakash Man Singh, in his inaugural address as Chief Guest, highlighted the fact that natural disasters and calamities do not recognize or respect geographical boundaries. “The Gorkha Earthquake, the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Lamjung Earthquake, the Doti Earthquake, the Bajhang Earthquake, the Bajura Earthquake, and last year's Jajarkot Earthquake, among other events, have taught us many lessons. Therefore, it is imperative to adhere to the National Building Code to minimize the loss of lives and property caused by earthquakes. Similarly, to ensure safety from disasters such as floods, landslides, pandemics, fires, storms, and cold waves, it is essential to make necessary preparations in advance and improve the state of search and rescue operations,” remarked DPM Singh.
Mr. Gopal Prasad Sigdel, Secretary from Ministry of Urban Development chaired the inaugural session. “Nepal is in high seismic risk region. The main cause of loss of lives and property during earthquakes is the collapse of structures. Therefore, to reduce seismic risk, houses and buildings must be constructed in a safe manner, and it is imperative to adhere to Nepal's National Building Code for safe building construction,” Secretary Sigdel stressed.
Dr. Bhisma Kumar Bhusal, Chief Executive of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), extended his heartfelt wishes to all organizations, individuals, institutions, communities, and everyone involved in the field of disaster management for participating in the symposium organized on the occasion of the 27th Earthquake Safety Day and for continued support and collaboration from all individuals in the field of disaster risk reduction and management in Nepal.
Dr. Bhushal further shared, “I had the opportunity to actively participate in various phases of the response to the Gorkha Earthquake. During this time, I collaborated with numerous national and international teams comprising academicians and professionals. Drawing from the lessons learned during the Gorkha Earthquake, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) has recently unveiled a comprehensive Recovery Plan for the victims of the 2022 Doti Earthquake, the 2023 Jajarkot Earthquake, and the 2024 monsoon-related disasters. This plan has been formally endorsed by the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, as well as the Disaster Management Executive Committee”.
In his welcome remarks at the beginning, Dr. Amod Mani Dixit, President of NSET, shared that this year's conference is being conducted by us as an international conference. However, its focus is a gathering of us technical experts, us policymakers, us decision-makers, and various stakeholders of society.
Dr. Dixit further said, “the primary objective of the symposium is to make disaster and earthquake-related science accessible to the public in a simple and understandable manner. It is about explaining the work we have done in policy and risk governance to the people. Unless and until it is not communicated and understood by the people, it cannot be implemented.”
Various international delegates and experts and professionals from Nepal participated the symposium organized under the 27th Earthquake Safety Day program which is observed every year on 15 or 16 January and around commemorating the Great Nepal-Bihar Earthquake of 1934. As a sharing and learning forum for the DRR stakeholders to review the DRR efforts of past year and explore the way forward in Earthquake Risk Management, symposiums are organized regularly as a part of the annual Earthquake Safety Day program.
On the occasion, participants shared their insights on reducing the earthquake including multi-hazard risk, building school safety, building code implementation, disaster preparedness and among others.
Altogether five technical sessions were conducted during the symposium. The sessions were:
About 200 participants including representatives from federal government ministries and departments, provincial and local governments, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, academia, Nepal Engineers’ Association (NEA), SCAEF, SONA, other professional societies, development partners, I/NGOs, CBOS, community representatives, NSET, and analogous organizations from the Himalayan region attended the program. They discussed strategies, innovations, and collaborative solutions for seismic resilience in one of the most earthquake-prone regions of the world. The participants were policy and decision makers, government representatives, officials, national and international academia, leaders in earthquake resilience, disaster management professionals and stakeholders in Nepal and across the region.
The symposium was jointly organized by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), the University of Bristol, UK in collaboration with the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET).
